Diabetes is no deficit for Yellow Jackets rusher

Tyler Lohr rushed for 942 yards last fall, enough to
earn him a spot on the second-team All-OAC.
Baldwin Wallace athletics photo

Tyler Lohr didn’t exactly make one of those must-see
dazzling debuts as a starting running back.

Not the kind of debut that makes you believe he has what it
takes to be an impact player in Division III football and certainly
not the kind of debut that makes you believe he is destined for
All-Conference honors.

Lohr’s first appearance for the Baldwin Wallace Yellow
Jackets was a nightmare, the type of performance you don’t
write home about. He fumbled the football four times in the 2011
opener against Wooster.

Lohr rushed for only 55 yards that day. Still, the Yellow
Jackets won 23-0.

"I definitely questioned myself," Lohr said. "In high school, I
never had ball control issues. It was a big letdown. But we had a
bye week after that, and I was determined to focus on being
better."

The only option was to get better. Tim Miker, who had racked up
more than 1,700 yards in his career, had gone down with a anterior
cruciate ligament tear during the preseason.

Lohr had to be the man in the backfield. It didn’t matter
that he spent 2010 splitting time between the junior varsity and
varsity teams, rushing for only 16 yards at the varsity level.

Ready or not, it was time for Lohr to jump into the fire.

"It was a shock to be in the position, and I felt bad for Tim,"
Lohr said. "But at the same time, I knew I had to take
advantage of the opportunity. I was ready to see all of my hard
work pay off."

BW head coach John Snell was confident Lohr could get the job
done.

"Tyler had been waiting in the wings for his opportunity to
play," Snell said. "He always worked hard in practice, and he made
the most of the chance he had to play last season."

The numbers don’t scream at the top of their lungs for
attention, but they say enough.
Lohr nearly turned in a 1,000-yard season, rushing for 924 to go
along with seven touchdowns. The effort earned him second-team
All-OAC honors.

Miker was expected to return this season, which would have given
the Yellow Jackets, a team with OAC championship aspirations, a
dynamic duo in their backfield. Miker hurt his knee again,
though, and now Lohr is being called upon to lead the way on the
ground.

"I’m expecting him to be even better than he was last
year," Snell said. "We weren’t sure what to expect from him
last year, but we have raised expectations for him this
season."

Lohr was looking forward to being in the backfield with Miker.
Still, he knows he can count on him anytime.

"Tim was like a second coach on the field for me. Any questions
I had, I could ask him and he would help me out. He has been a big
help to me."

What makes the story of Lohr’s rise to success all the
more impressive is the fact that he has been living with juvenile
diabetes since he was 14.

He learned he was diabetic while on a cruise. At first, he
thought maybe he was just seasick.

It turned out to be much more.

It can be challenging to be diabetic and play a grueling sport
such as football. Lohr has learned to live with it and has thrived
despite his health situation.

"The toughest thing, at first, was just learning to keep my
blood sugar up during practice or at games," Lohr said. "But
I’ve been living with it for a while now, and I know how my
body feels. It has become a lot easier to keep everything under
control."

Lohr has never let the juvenile diabetes stand in the way of
football, and Snell points out, his star running back has never
made it obvious that he has diabetes.

"Tyler is the kind of kid who never uses being diabetic as an
excuse for anything," Snell said. "If he didn’t mention it or
you didn’t see him giving himself his shots, you
wouldn’t even know he was diabetic. He has learned to
function despite the challenges, and he has succeeded."

The Yellow Jackets finished 8-2 overall last season and were 7-2
in the OAC. They have aspirations of winning a league title for the
first time since 1994, and expectations will be high for them as
they were ranked No. 19 in the preseason poll and are currently No.
17.
Lohr will play a role in helping BW accomplish its goals, and he
has spent the offseason preparing to be at his best in 2012.

"I think one of the biggest things I’ve improved on is my
ball security and I have better field vision," Lohr said. "But I
know I couldn’t have success without the offensive line.
Those guys are some of my best friends on the team and they have
done a great job of making me look good."

Surviving the grind of the OAC will take everything Lohr and his
teammates have this year, and Snell said his players know that
nothing will come easy over the course of the season.

"Our expectations aren’t really any different than they
have been in the past, and our guys know no one is going to lay
down for us," Snell said. "We have to get better every week, and we
have to be ready to play every opponent."

The first opponent will be Bluffton on Saturday. And while Nov.
3 is circled on the calendar of anyone associated with BW football
-- that is the day the Yellow Jackets and Mount Union will duke it
out in Berea -- Lohr said every week is a big week.

"We have to take each game as it comes. Every week is the Super
Bowl for us," Lohr said. "We know even one loss can hurt our
chances of a conference title or spot in the playoffs. We have to
be ready for everyone."

In the poll

Mount Union looked sharp in its first game of
the year and made a little history in the process of the 45-7
victory over No. 13 Franklin on Saturday.

The No. 2 Purple Raiders nailed down their 700th win in program
history. Mount Union is the 21st program in NCAA history and the
second in D-III history to win at least 700 games.

Kevin Burke helped lead the way in his debut at quarterback. The
sophomore completed 16 of his 26 passes for 243 yards and a
touchdown pass to Shannon Stewart. He also rushed for 51 yards.
Chris Denton caught seven passes for 89 yards, and Charlie Dieuseul
led the defensive effort with eight tackles. Isaiah Scott tallied
seven tackles and an interception.

It was a game that lived up to the hype, but in the end,
No. 23 Thomas More came up short in a showdown
with No. 9 St. John Fisher, falling 13-7 in overtime. St. John
Fisher came into the game ranked 11th in the nation.

Thomas More was ranked No. 20 entering the tilt. The Saints were
playing their first OT game since 2006, and they made noise when
Luke Magness hit Devin Kendrick on a 6-yard scoring strike with
10:18 to go in the first half. The touchdown tied the game at
7-7.

Thomas More had the ball first in OT but could not score. Cody
Miller sealed the deal with a 2-yard touchdown run. Magness was
12-of-23 for 85 yards and one touchdown on a day when the Saints
managed 130 yards of offense.

The Cardinals rolled up 403. Nick Pennekamp had a big day
defensively for the Saints, racking up 10 tackles. Alex Taylor made
8.5tackles and forced a fumble.

No. 8 Wabash did not play. The Little Giants
will open their campaign against Hanover on the road this Saturday.
No. 17 Baldwin Wallace will host Bluffton on
Saturday in its first game.

Star power

Geneva quarterback Zack Hayward was unable to
lead his team to a victory on Saturday against Frostburg State, but
the junior signal-caller did put on quite a show in the Golden
Tornadoes’ 56-53 season-opening loss on the road.

Hayward had one of the top performances in Presidents’
Athletic Conference history, throwing for a single-game high 535
yards. He also threw seven touchdowns and rolled up a total of 574
yards of offense, both of which were single-game conference marks
as well.

His 39 completions was the second-best total in PAC history. The
Golden Tornadoes finished with 714 yards and Frostburg State
churned out 566 yards.

Despite playing in 108-degree heat, the
Washington and Jefferson football team stepped up defensively in a
23-6 win over Methodist on Saturday in North Carolina.

The Presidents forced three turnovers. B.J. Monacelli made five
tackles and forced one fumble. He also knocked down a pass attempt.
Dan Sciortino picked off a pass and John Hunter also came up with a
forced fumble. Nathan Melhorn led the defensive effort with eight
tackles as Methodist was limited to 277 yards, including just 96 on
the ground.

Myron Puryear is one of the best defensive
players in the MIAA. He is also a viable threat on special teams,
and he flashed that skill on Saturday when he returned a kickoff 92
yards for a score in Trine’s season-opening 24-14 win over
Manchester.

The return broke a 7-7 tie and Puryear also tallied seven
tackles. Caleb Nitz racked up 12 tackles to pace the defense. Trine
has won its last seven games against Manchester.

Field goal kickers don't get a lot of
attention, but Allegheny kicker Ryan Mong made everyone pay
attention to him on Saturday, drilling a 28-yard game-winning field
goal to cap a thrilling 17-14 comeback win over Wooster.

The Scots led 14-0 before the Gators roared to life to pull off
the stunning win. He also nailed both of his extra-point attempts
in the victory, the first after an 8-yard touchdown catch by David
Bassi and the second following a 32-yard touchdown pass to Isaac
Gittens.

Alexander Lum and Jack Butler came up big
defensively for Carnegie Mellon in its 23-20 season-opening win
over Grove City College. The duo came up with 10 tackles apiece as
the Tartans stretched their win streak in season openers to 14
games. The Tartans gave up 303 yards on the day and secured the win
when Liam McGrath picked off a pass with his team leading
23-20.

Notes

Waynesburg backup running back Bertrand Ngampa
ran 40 yards for the go-ahead score in a 34-23 win over Muskingum
on Saturday. The TD capped a rally in which the Yellow Jackets
trailed by nine (23-14) with just over 10 minutes to go in the
game. Ngampa finished with his day with 91 yards on 12 carries. ...
It was a big day for John Carroll quarterback Mark
Myers, who had a stellar debut in the the Blue
Streaks’ 40-3 win over St. Norbert in Ireland. Myers threw
for 457 yards and five touchdowns as he led John Carroll to its
first season-opening win since 2008. He was 30-of-43 and broke the
school record for yards set by his current quarterback coach, Tom
Arth, who threw for 452 yards against Ohio Northern in 2000.
Albion scored on six of its first seven
possessions and rolled to a 55-0 win over Defiance on Saturday.
Dennis Duncan scored his first collegiate touchdown in the victory
and Darrin Williams made his debut as a punt returner, rolling up
116 yards. He also scored on a 5-yard touchdown run.
Westminster running back Tyler Banks rushed for a
career-high two touchdown to help the Titans blank Hiram 28-0 in
their season opener. It marks the third consecutive year
Westminster has beaten Hiram in an opener, and Derrick
Orloski racked up 8.5 tackles, including 2.5 for a loss.
... Tim Doup was a winner in his first game as the
head coach at Otterbein as the Cardinals blanked Gallaudet 15-0 on
Saturday. Doup became the first coach since 2001 to win his first
game. Otterbein gave up only 219 yards and Aaron Kingcaide was
11-of-18 for 118 yards in his first start at quarterback. ...
Kalamazoo overcame an early 8-7 deficit to edge
Rose-Hulman 29-28 in its season opener on Saturday. Aaron McGuire
shined at quarterback, completing 16 of his 29 passes for 246
yards. He was picked off twice but did rush for 111 yards and three
touchdowns. ... Mike Person became the first
Allegheny quarterback since 2000 to win in his first career start.
He was 13-of-25 for 122 yards and two touchdowns. He was picked off
once. ... David Kalgren returned two interceptions
for touchdowns and helped Oberlin crush Earlham 33-3 in its season
opener on Saturday. Kalgren was part of a defensive effort that
limited the Quakers to 109 yards of offense...Case Western running
back Kenny Riordan rushed for a career-high 155 yards to help pace
the the Spartans to a 26-23 win over Marietta in its season opener.
Case scored 26 unanswered points to secure the wild victory and
have won their last 11 openers. Riordan carried the ball 19 times
but did not score a touchdown. Case finished with 415 yards.

Contact me

I love hearing from the readers and feel free to share your
thoughts in addition to potential story ideas. You can reach me at
brian.lester@d3sports.com or follow me on Twitter: @BLester1993.

Joe Sager is a freelance writer based in Pittsburgh. He has written about sports since 1996 for a variety of newspapers, magazines and websites. He first covered D-III football in 2000 with the New Castle (Pa.) News.